Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-07-30
RAILWAY POSTAL SERVICE.
DlViDsD ISr0 EiEA kAAf DiviSlOGs
fRkOU8aOUf rms OUURfRY.
The Modern Mail Car Really travelling Post
or,cs- Five rhousand Men Employed.
one Thousand Carr resss Of the
Candids,ss- Rsquisis~.

ouO Huouhouu CoSv-HUsve Ou tuO
Candids,ss Rsquisis~.
\. Y. Letter to Scranton Republican.
How few OF those who daily receive let- /
lers and newspapers have any idea Of the
lmmensty which our postal system hes
reached. l was recently informed by Q
OF the department that the weight
Of postal matter sent from this city daily 10 l
not les than go tons-which In the days Of !
our fathers would have loaded . ship TAX.
ing the entire year ct the average the annual
aggregate would I've 9l,3l6 tons, one-ufth Of |
which is carried ON the Central Hudson
road. The railway postal system 10 . de- /
velopment due to the rapid increase iu busi.
meas and though 1t WAS hardly known
twenty-iv ago 1t 10 now an indisp psnsible
feature in the operations Of the day.
SOME pErAILs
The modern mail car IL really travelling
pOstoflice When the idea was first intro
duced the mails were put mp by the local
postmasters and all required Of the railway
man WAS to receive and deliver the pouches
Now, however, the car is fitted up - post
ton il maintained. Tho mails are received
In bulk and the clerks distribute while In
motion, duty which requires great rspidity
and precision. Taking = national view Of
tnie syStom nnu IL ulNiueU lutO uiro Kreat
divisions all Of which are under the super.
vision OF Thomas f. Nash, general surerin.
tendent Of the railway postal service. His
office Is in Washington and his salary 10
q 500 which he we'll earns, as his duties are
very laborious. He travels incessantly and
must he In constant readiness to obey the
teiegrapbic summons to any place where
difficulties may arise He has nine assistant
Observation-Disclosures to each division-R T.
Jackson. OF this city bsing one Of the num-
her. Another important official Is Chief
Clerk John NJ. Baker, whose office Is in
Syracuse One OF the duties Is to sse that
every car Is supplied with Its crew aud II 4
clerk is taken i'll his place is filled by calling
in some 'tof' man.
NUMBER AND EXTENT.
lis estimated that the rail way postal sys.
| tem requires 5000 men and as they average
| five to = car the number Of postal cars cannot
be less than thousand. As . irst class car
| costs 5000 the reader can form some idea OF
| the capital required. There are hundred
railroads in this state on which 'postal carr
are employed. Each car, as l have said,
contains crew OF five one of which is green
hand learning the business and therefore re-
quired 70 do the. rougher part OF the work.
Applications for employment are made
congressman of the district and the appoint
ment 10 limited to six monthA The csndi
date IL subjected to an examination o
reading varied hand writing the test being Z
/ uoIu VI CuNclckc6 buu no 10 tXktSteu u Ic8u
the addresses OF 100 in from five to seven
minutes. He is not obliged to do this, fol
however duh he may be his job Is good for
six months, the pay being $50 Q month.
health and especially eyesight He is set 70
work Immediately but |! he does not give
satisfaction he Is dropped at the end OF the
term.
| MORE EXAMINATION.
II the candidate displays an adoption TO the
work he Is at the close OF his probation cub.
ject 70 another examination. The scene 10 q
miniature postoffice with the usual array OF
boxes for making up the mail. A large
used) 10 handed him and he is required Y
| place them in the boxes proper for their des
| tinatior. This requires not only rspidity o
J thought, but also knowledge OF locality ant
| TO become expert one must have nstura
, | gift OF geography. One of these candle idste
distributed 8 500 addressed cards In thre,
and Q half hours and 81 per cent of the Who'll,
number was correct The same task ha
been done by an expert in less than tW,
hours but It was severe effort 1t 10 re-
quired OF the candidate that 10 per cent O
| this distribution be correct or he in dropped
The necessity Of the familiarity with post
ofice localities is evident from the fact ths
every postal car has liz pigeon holes fol
New York and 30 for Pennsy lvania, together
with others in proportion. Pennsylvania
contains more postoiiices than any othsl
l
them are OF minor importance tie clerk
must know the best way OF reaching them
These examinations are held either in th
city or in Syracuse under Chief Examine
Warning, whose tests are q complete ba
against all incompetents.
AN INSTANCE
A very successful member OF this fore,
mentioned TO me that for the purpose O
mastering the work he paid his entire salsr,
the first ak months 70 an pert for instruC
ton. He WAS put on as green man an,
found 1t advantageous to meet this outis,
since he made the more rapid advance HI
also constantly practiced during of hours tn
purpose and found 1t assisted his progress n
| that he now holds high position. The pay
however, at best IL small, u least for tn
| required, and ranges from $50 TO ell5 pc
month. No candidate Is eligible under sir
teen but the most desirable age il frou
twenty seven TO thirty.two, since the facultie
are rarely developed until some years ate
reasoning manhood. Old men are nc
wanted and though there il one still In sei
Vice at sixty he Is rare exception. Old mt
} may he able to go through routine, bll
postal clerks are often required to perform
, double duty which could not he expected &
the former. The service between this cit
| and Chicago requires 320 men, all OF whoL
work very hard. The morning train leave
at Z. m., but they are required to be o
hand two hours earlier and get their wor
ready and they are kept busy until the
reach Syracuse where they are relieved, an
| the next day resume work and return on
| postal train. Some who are very avaiiabl
In other points find the ser vice too hard 70
health, especially when liable to kidney dii
esss or vertigo A clear head, strong an
quisits and hence lew become permsnenti
successful. In fact of all the public servant
| there are none who 70 thoroughly ear
their money ss the railway postal clerk.